This image released by Tesla Motors shows a conceptual design sketch of the Hyperloop passenger transport capsule. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Monday, Aug. 12, 2013 unveiled the concept for a transport system he says would make the nearly 400-mile trip in half the time it takes an airplane. The "Hyperloop" system would use a large tube. Inside, capsules would float on air, traveling at over 700 miles per hour. (AP Photo/Tesla Motors) less

This image released by Tesla Motors shows a conceptual design sketch of the Hyperloop passenger transport capsule. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Monday, Aug. 12, 2013 unveiled the concept for a ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveils the Falcon Heavy rocket at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, in this April 5, 2011 file photo. A design for a super-fast transport system dubbed "Hyperloop" was set to be unveiled August 12, 2013 by inventor and entrepreneur Elon Musk. Musk, who heads electric carmaker Tesla Motors and private space exploration firm SpaceX, promised to reveal the design , but said he is not planning a new venture. "We're going to provide quite a detailed design," he said last week. "And then invite critical feedback and see if people can find ways to improve it and then it can just be out there as an open source design that maybe can keep improving. And I don't have any plans to execute it, because Imust remain focused on SpaceX and Tesla." AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMMNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images less

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveils the Falcon Heavy rocket at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, in this April 5, 2011 file photo. A design for a super-fast transport system dubbed "Hyperloop" was set to be ... more

Photo: Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty Images

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Incubator will try to turn Hyperloop into reality

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Elon Musk's vision of high-speed travel through a set of tubes linking San Francisco to Los Angeles may be one small step closer to reality.

A business incubator in Southern California has formed a team to take Musk's Hyperloop idea and turn it into a company. And that team includes the former director of mission operations at Musk's private spaceship company, SpaceX.

The online incubator, JumpStartFund, uses crowdsourcing to vet ideas, solve problems and build companies. That's a perfect fit for the Hyperloop, a complex piece of hypothetical engineering that Musk proposed in August.

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In theory at least, the Hyperloop could whisk passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 35 minutes at speeds reaching 760 mph. They would travel in small capsules racing through a series of elevated steel tubes above Interstate 5. No one has ever built anything quite like it.

"Hyperloop is a very complex system, and we look forward to receiving input and support from all the brilliant minds out there in the JumpStartFund community to make this a true open source development," said Marco Villa, who used to direct missions of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.

As outlined by Musk in a 57-page paper, the Hyperloop would use electromagnetic pulses within the tubes to push the capsules along, rather than relying on conventional engines. The capsules would float on a thin cushion of air to reduce friction.

Musk developed the Hyperloop concept with engineers at both SpaceX and his electric car company, Tesla Motors. But when he published the paper on his blog in August, he asked the public to take the idea and run with it. Although he indicated he might build a demo version of the Hyperloop, Musk said he didn't have the time to pursue the concept in earnest, and he invited others to do it.

"If someone else goes and does a demo, that would be really awesome," Musk said in August. "And I hope someone does."

Musk could not be reached for further comment. A Tesla spokeswoman said the company was aware of JumpStartFund's effort.

"We're not involved in JumpStartFund's project, but we wish them the best of luck," said spokeswoman Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean.

JumpStartFund is, in itself, a kind of experiment.

The startup, based in El Segundo (Los Angeles County), lets entrepreneurs pitch ideas to an online community of people who can help turn those concepts into companies. Participants, who must register on JumpStartFund's website, may choose to work on a particular project in return for a small share of the future company's sales. That's assuming the project they work on turns into a company that generates sales.

"When Elon announced the Hyperloop, it was the ideal situation, because it was exactly what we're doing," said Dirk Ahlborn, JumpStartFund's CEO and co-founder. "He's an entrepreneur, he had a great idea, he doesn't have time to take care of it himself, so we approached him."

Villa will help assemble a group of people willing to work on the Hyperloop concept, studying its feasibility and possible implementation. So will Patricia Galloway, the first female president of the America Society of Civil Engineers, who has worked on several big transportation infrastructure projects.

"There's a lot of eager minds out there wanting to work on things like this, but they don't know how to get involved," Galloway said. "I'm sure we're going to find scientists and engineers in laboratories willing to take this on part time or full time."